In his presentation on culture, belonging and the England “cause”, Stuart Lancaster has drawn a red line through “arrogance” and inserted the phrase “self-belief” instead.

Saturday evening's Six Nations opener against France in Paris brings a mighty test of the England coach’s belief that “suppressing self-interest” is the formula for building great teams.

We are sitting in his office at the team’s Pennyhill Park base in Surrey as Lancaster reveals the heart of his philosophy, which is about building an “identity” for English rugby way beyond standard pride.

“The premise behind it is that the more you have to play for, the better you play,” Lancaster says.

“Ultimately you suppress self-interest. You put the team ahead of your own individual needs.

"If they’re only motivated by self – ‘I want to play for England to get as much money as I can, raise my profile, get commercial deals’ – you get effort, but they pick and choose.”

Lancaster then points to a progression graph and says: “I think we’re at this point here – band of brothers level.

"They’re all good mates, they all play for different clubs.

"What we’re trying to get to is this level here [he points], where the legacy you leave, and the shirt, become the driver, in the way the All Blacks have it.”

The inexperienced backs who face France in Le Crunch have stepped into a whole new culture.

It was born in Lancaster’s first few weeks in charge when he asked the parents of the players to write to their sons to tell them what it meant to them to be represented by their offspring in the red-rose shirt.

The replies were uniformly moving and inspiring.

The idea, Lancaster says, was to help the players understand that they are playing for each other, for their country, for their friends and for their families.

Hence Lancaster’s use of a South African motivational video in which a wide cast of people tell the nation’s sportsmen and women: “You represent me.”

Lancaster says: “What I did by writing to the parents was to tap into the values of those that care about them.”

This ambitious scheme must yield results, of course, on the field, in tight games, in hostile environments, and in the home World Cup of 2015.

It must support, rather than replace, coaching, selection and game management.

Lancaster says there is no danger of him being sidetracked by educational projects.

“This isn’t the only thing we concentrate on, clearly,” he says.

“We concentrate on the game plan and everything else.

"In terms of my thinking time, I would say it’s a bigger portion than people would think.”

Nor is he blind to the need to nurture creativity, spontaneity, in a sometimes mechanical side.

“One hundred per cent,” he says. “I don’t think in the modern game just a powerful forward-dominated side can do it any more.

"To be big and powerful won’t win the big games in my opinion.

"Sometimes we haven’t got everything right in terms of our attack but our mindset has been right, and what we need to do is up-skill the players to deliver it.

“To win the World Cup you have to have an all-court game. If you just have one or two strings to your bow it won’t be enough to win seven games on the bounce.

"New Zealand can win in the tight, in the loose, on counterattack. That’s what makes them the best at the moment.”

Lancaster’s sense that English rugby has lacked a higher purpose is borne out by his research: “We looked at the history of England teams from the 1870s, met former players, asked them what it meant to play for England, what it means to be an English player and what attitude and mindset the English have and what, at our best, we can recreate.

“A former player told me he felt more playing for Cambridge than England, because of the history, the traditions, the values that went with it.

"Coming here, you just turned up and that was it. There was a hierarchy, where the younger players had to wait two years to speak. All that sort of stuff.

“So in teams, just coming together and playing for a nomadic team that you have no connection to or identity with – you’re not going to give your all.

"You might give what you perceive to be your all. But to win a game like rugby your commitment has to be over and above what the normal person would put in.

“There are more challenges building and connecting an England national team than there are in a club environment.

"In a club environment you have pre-season, you go through wins and losses together, you’re together all the time. You have close bonds with your mates.

“Internationally it’s different because you’re not together all the time, you have inter-club rivalry, you’ve got the fact that everyone is No1 at their club – but you come here and you might be on the bench, or not in the 23.

"The scrutiny and the publicity around an international team is obviously heightened. And the fear of failure increases as well.”

Among Lancaster’s touchstones were James Peters, the first black player to represent England (in 1906), who is said to have inspired Mako and Billy Vunipola, and Arthur Harrison, the only England player to have been awarded the Victoria Cross.

The England changing room at Twickenham now features a “debut board” with the names of all newcomers.

Inspiring social-media messages flash on the tunnel walls to bring the public closer to the team.

Lancaster is fond of mentioning the sense of national togetherness engendered by football’s Euro 96.

“This culture and psychological mindset, for me, is huge in teams, whether it’s cricket, rugby or football,” he says.

“The desire to play for each other and play for the shirt can take you to a place 10 or 15 per cent further than you’ve been before.

"I assumed that by coming into England, pulling on the shirt would create it, but actually I think you need something more, and that’s what we’ve been looking for.”

Mavericks are welcome, he insists, so long as they obey the cultural norms.

Mental toughness is non-negotiable: “You’ve got to have character to be a great international rugby player.

"In a 50-50 selection decision, I’ll always pick the player with the greater character.

“I was asked about the maverick player – is there a place for the maverick?

The way I answered it was – of course there is a place for people who can do things others can’t.

"However, they have to fit into the team ethic and what the team’s all about. If a team isn’t strong enough culturally then that can destroy the team.

“I actually don’t think that type of player, who’s only in it for themselves, would get through the club structure now, to become an international player. Not in a sport like rugby.”

This cultural revolution is being pursued across all areas: “Initially through the training ground and selection.

"Now we’re trying to go through what history tells us being English means,” Lancaster says.

“I remember speaking to Andrew Strauss and him saying getting to No1 in the world for the cricket team was a major goal, but that sustaining it becomes the challenge.

"To have a goal beyond winning the World Cup in 2015 is something we’re driving towards.”

The idea is that “the shirt’s left in a better place than when you get it. You connect personal meaning to the shirt”.

Lancaster continues: “The fundamentals for me are – get this sense of identity and purpose anchored within the team.

"And we identify what the traits of being English are really all about, as a rugby team, but also as a country.

"And then maybe share some of that with England rugby fans and England sports fans in general. How we do that is the trick and the challenge.

“What really began to dawn on the players was that once you’re an England player it stays with you for the rest of your life.

"It shapes who you are. You probably don’t appreciate it when you’re 21 or 22.”